Chapter 274: A Little Parting is More Beneficial for Reward Explosions
"Grandma, I'm back!" As soon as Obito walked into the yard, he couldn't wait to shout.
"Welcome home." Grandma came to the door with a kind smile.
"You must be hungry. I'll cook for you." It was just noon, and Grandma thought Obito probably hadn't eaten yet, so she turned and went to the kitchen to prepare lunch for him.
Obito chuckled and nodded, then sat down in the living room.
As soon as Obito sat on the chair in the living room, he felt completely relaxed, even a bit sleepy.
"I didn't feel tired before, so why do I feel tired now after sitting down?" Obito scratched his head, feeling a bit puzzled.
Even though he didn't understand, the chair at home was so comfortable that he didn't mind sitting as comfortably as he could.
"Obito, that Uchiha Yashiro came looking for you yesterday. He brought quite a few things again and said that if you have time after completing your mission, you should attend the clan's Youth Ninja Exchange Meeting," Grandma said as she remembered what happened yesterday while cooking.
"What's this Youth Ninja Exchange Meeting? Just a gathering to chat?" Obito asked, not quite understanding.
"Something like that. It seems there will also be some sparring battles, and there are rewards for winning. Your father used to participate," Grandma recalled.
"What reward did Dad get?" Obito asked curiously, looking toward the kitchen. He rarely heard Grandma talk about his father.
"I don't really remember, but your father was quite happy back then. He told me a lot about how strong the other participants were and how hard he worked to defeat an opponent," Grandma paused before answering.
As she reminisced, she realized just how old she had become, forgetting so much about her own child's life.
"The event is in two days. Obito, if you don't want to go, then don't. After all, they don't know when you'll finish your mission," Grandma said while cooking. She knew that Obito had never gotten along well with the other clan members.
"If there's a reward, why not go? It's not like there's an entry fee," Obito replied with a grin. He wasn't interested in socializing with his clan, but if there were rewards, he could check it out.
"Hurry up and eat. You'll need energy to fight," Grandma said with a cheerful smile as she placed the food on the table.
Obito quickly nodded, ready to dig in.
"Obito, how are things going with Rin-chan? Have you let her know how you feel?" Grandma asked with a big smile.
Obito choked on his food, coughing twice.
Grandma immediately went over to pat his back, helping him catch his breath.
"Feelings? What feelings? Grandma, you know we're only nine years old," Obito answered, blushing.
Grandma smiled without saying anything. She could easily see through Obito's little thoughts.
"Grandma, you should eat too. It won't taste good if it gets cold," Obito quickly said, trying to prevent her from saying anything else that might make him blush.
After finishing the meal, Obito shared some of the stories he had heard from the client about the Land of Hot Water with his grandma, then headed to the southern forest to train.
As he was about to arrive, Obito ran into someone he didn't really want to see.
"Not sleeping at home?" Kakashi asked calmly. He felt a bit disappointed; if Obito hadn't come today, Kakashi could have outworked him by a day and received more guidance from Mutsuki.
"Sleep? Why would I sleep in the middle of the day? Of course, I'm here to train with Yumi-sensei," Obito replied since he was already in the southern forest.
Obito was glad he didn't let a bit of fatigue make him rest; otherwise, Kakashi would have been secretly working harder for a whole day without him knowing.
The two exchanged glances and walked into the southern forest together. At that moment, Mutsuki was working on Water Breathing techniques, and Shisui was engaged in constant training.
"Why are you here at this time? Isn't Minato training you or having you carry out a mission today?" Mutsuki asked when he saw the two of them approaching.
Mutsuki was pretending; he knew that Obito and Kakashi had gone out on a mission with Minato because he had already seen the rewards for completing the mission.
Disciple Kakashi and Uchiha Obito worked hard to complete the mission and received a growth reward: Chakra +700.
Seeing this reward, Mutsuki knew that Obito and Kakashi must have encountered some unexpected situations during the mission. With only two disciples and without his leadership bonus, 700 Chakra points was already a considerable amount.
"Could it be that it's not my issue, but rather Obito and Kakashi's really bad luck?" Mutsuki thought to himself.
He had previously thought that the frequent unexpected events were due to his deliberate selection of missions, but it turned out that even without him picking the missions, Obito and Kakashi still encountered surprises consistently.
"We just finished the mission, and Minato-sensei gave us four days off," Obito explained.
"This mission was really close. Kakashi's mouth is like it has a Ninjutsu effect—every time he says nothing unexpected will happen, something unexpected definitely happens," Obito eagerly began to recount their mission experience to Mutsuki.
"It was just a coincidence!" Kakashi emphasized.
"Didn't you hear that registered ninja's warning? There are Hidden Cloud shinobi in the Land of Hot Water. We just happened to run into them."
"I only know that this is the fifth time something unexpected has happened," Obito pointed out, stating that facts speak louder than words.
When Obito mentioned the number of times, Kakashi had no response. Having five consecutive unexpected encounters, with two of them involving a Raikage candidate, was indeed a bit uncanny.
Obito continued sharing their mission experience with Mutsuki, saying, "Yumi-sensei, you would never guess who we ran into this time. It's a good thing Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God is so powerful, or else you might not have seen us again."
Obito genuinely felt that this mission was very dangerous. Last time, he hadn't seen Mutsuki and Fourth Raikage A's battle, so he didn't know the specifics of Fourth Raikage A's strength. This time, even though Minato was holding the line, the distance wasn't very far, and he could see the details of the fight between Fourth Raikage A and Minato.
"Was it that Raikage candidate again?" Mutsuki thought aloud. Given that it was Hidden Cloud and a powerful opponent, the first ones that came to mind were Fourth Raikage A and Killer B.
After all, encountering the Third Raikage isn't something that happens easily; you'd usually only meet him on very important battlefields.
"Yumi-sensei, you're amazing! You guessed it just like that," Obito said, looking at Mutsuki with a face full of surprise. He hadn't expected Mutsuki to figure it out so easily.
Mutsuki chuckled and replied, "Maybe I'm just lucky."
"Alright, let's chat after training and rest a bit. Let's start the training first," Mutsuki continued. He knew that if Obito and Kakashi had come to the southern forest at this time, they were definitely planning to train. Any conversation could be saved for later in the evening when they could visit him at home.
"Kakashi, start with Breathing Technique Constant training. As long as you have energy, keep maintaining the state of Total Concentration."
"Obito, you'll learn a new Fire Release technique with me first. Once you've mastered the Fire Release Ninjutsu, then you'll move on to Breathing Technique training."
For Kakashi, the immediate priority was solving his reaction issue. Achieving the Thunder Breathing Constant state was more important for Kakashi now than any other ability.
There's a limit to how much reaction training can help; it can't fully solve the problem. As long as the reaction issue remains unresolved, Kakashi's Thunder Breathing will be limited. Pushing his speed to the maximum is a gamble, relying on the hope that the opponent won't be able to react to such speed.
As for Obito, Mutsuki felt that he still lacked a powerful and wide-range Fire Release technique. To prevent the flames from setting the forest on fire, Mutsuki took Obito to the riverside for training.
"Yumi-sensei, what Fire Release are you planning to teach me? Is it that one that looks like a sea of flames?" Obito asked excitedly, still remembering Mutsuki's Intelligent Hard Work from their first C-Rank mission.
"It's not that one, but in terms of power, this Ninjutsu isn't any weaker," Mutsuki said, shaking his head.
He was going to teach Obito the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, a technique that he had received from a Ninjutsu scroll given by Danzo.
Mutsuki first explained the principles of releasing the technique and the key points, then demonstrated it.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Mutsuki quickly formed hand seals, gathered Chakra, and then spewed out a large amount of violent flames.
The flames of the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet were different from those of ordinary Fire Release techniques. Due to their ferocity, they could attack from multiple directions simultaneously.
Of course, no Ninjutsu is powerful without a reason. Because of its unique properties, the flames of the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet are extremely difficult to control. If not used properly, it's not just a matter of failing to attack the enemy from multiple directions—you'd be lucky not to burn yourself.
Under Mutsuki's control, the fierce flames split into three streams and rushed toward the river, evaporating a large amount of water and causing thick white mist to rise.
Because so much water was evaporated in an instant, the surface of the river appeared extremely uneven for a moment in Obito's eyes.
"This Ninjutsu is very powerful, but it also consumes a lot of Chakra. Don't use it like the Great Fireball," Mutsuki reminded.
"Uh-huh, I know," Obito responded quickly, his eyes lighting up as he saw the fierce power of the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. He nodded enthusiastically, like a little chick pecking at grain.
After demonstrating the technique once, Mutsuki carefully broke down the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet and explained it step by step.
He taught differently depending on the person. If it were Shisui, he wouldn't go into too much detail, as it would be a waste of time—Shisui could often grasp one point and infer the rest on his own.
[You taught your disciple Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. Due to the disciple's gratitude, a critical reward was triggered, and you received the Ninjutsu Water Release: Water Prison (Proficient level)]
It had been a while since they last met, and although Mutsuki hadn't intentionally played on emotions, Obito's gratitude was still quite high.
Water Prison is indeed a useful Ninjutsu. It can be used to trap enemies or sometimes to protect oneself and block attacks.
When the training ended, Mutsuki invited all three of his disciples to his home for dinner.
"Yay, I get to eat Yumi-sensei's cooking again," Obito happily agreed.
Shisui and Kakashi were also willing and immediately agreed.
In the evening, while Mutsuki was cooking, Minato and Guy also arrived at his home.
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